obakeng slaps gloria (who won’t leave him!)
gloria’s abuse nightmare doesn’t end with a wake-up slap…
scandal!
Weekdays e.tv 19:30
w e’ve been watching controlling obakeng (peter moruakgomo) belittling his wife gloria (marjorie langa) since mid-november, wondering when they’re going to wake up and realise that their marriage’s turned toxic.
guilt stricken, gloria’s let obakeng get away with bullying since she’s been up to no good behind his back, like tricking her ex into giving her the money she spent on obakeng’s party in november. she’s fully aware that she’s not the perfect wife. “he expects her to be submissive and loyal, but most of all, to always do what he thinks is right,” says peter. who knows what’ll happen if he finds out that gloria’s been going behind his back to block the sale of her house since wednesday 3 december! so gloria hasn’t seen how much obakeng has been tightening his fist – until he slaps her on wednesday 10 december. then her eyes are wide open. “as light as it may be, i think only when it’s physical that it defines abuse to her,” says marjorie.
after that slap
but don’t expect gloria to draw the line at obakeng slapping her for running a shebeen and tripe shop from their stoep. “i don’t think at this point, after the slap, that she’s thinking clearly,” says marjorie. “even when people around her see her situation and make her aware and also offer to help, she sees it as though they want to cause problems for her in her marriage.” and it looks like obakeng isn’t going to stop either. “he feels bad after hitting gloria, but he can’t say it openly to her as he feels that she needed to be reprimanded even though he said sorry and promises not to do it again. he is more paranoid and very selfish and not even thinking straight,” peter explains.
putting out a light
unopposed, obakeng’s abuse escalates. peter reveals that his character does manipulative things like telling gloria to drop her old friends like ndumiso (andile sithole) and maletsatsi (joyce skefu) on friday 12 december. “he’s unhappy with gloria’s idea of tripe nights because other men might desire her. things like calling her names – that’s very wrong and abusive.” he adds that obakeng treats gloria like a child on wednesday 17 december and tells her, “stop what you are doing and go to bed.” the result is a sadder, smaller gloria. “it really puts a damper on her spirit and her largerthan-life personality,” says marjorie. “her behaviour changes her personality from the bubbly gloria to a subdued one, with low self-esteem, especially around obakeng.”
this can’t go on
and then it gets worse! gloria calls the cops after obakeng hits her again on friday 19 december. “a wake-up call is when the cops come (on monday 22 december) and obakeng realises just how close it was for him to be arrested,” says peter. but he doesn’t know how to stop any more than gloria does. there is still a long way for this couple to fall. how far will it go? we’ll find out from tuesday 23 december, when gloria starts researching what happened to the previous mrs rangaka…
too close to home
in real life, abuse has taken its toll personally, for both marjorie and peter. peter ended a friendship because of abuse. “it didn’t sit well with me. it made me so angry that i ended my friendship with that friend,” he says. it was even more intimate for marjorie. it was, she says, “mainly emotional and psychological. at some point i lost a bit of myself in the situation, because it was done by someone very significant in my life whom i trusted. i was borderline depressed and what ultimately made me take myself out of the situation was when it shifted to physical [abuse] as i had a son to think about”. the soap’s producer ilse van hemert was especially careful when briefing peter on his difficult storyline, saying, “we discussed that some people may even confuse obakeng with peter and attack him personally for what his character is doing to gloria, especially since peter is such a convincing actor.” so guys, don’t slap peter, please!